Offering III

O Venus,
O Venus,
why hast Thou forsaken me?

What vanity have I struck against You,
what hersey have I committed,
which incorruptible drop
that I had shed in Your name
became corruptible in the end?

What lesson must you teach,
O Towers of Love,
and what faithfulness must I recommit to?

I am no one to question You but my devotion
pleads to know:
why this disturbance?
why this promise shattered?
why these hands around my heart,
knife hidden,
ready to plunge?

Did I want too much, too? Did I want too much?\

Or did I merely not beg You
for enough?

I ask of You
once again
to give my voice your clarity,
to give me the strength to follow Your path,\

And even now,
even with these fragments in my hand
this betrayal in my arms and chest and shoulders
I still pledge myself to You,
these words,
this blood; for

I am the high priestess; it is written
all over my black vestal dress,
my nightmares my daydreams my narratives
of power through love my fantasies of a Culture
far greater and more powerful than our own;
allow me to be Yours allow me to be Yours allow me to be Yours.